Canadian race walker gives up appeal for bronze medal

Canadian Evan Dunfee had an eventful 50 km race walk at the Rio
Olympics, one that saw him help one struggling fellow
competitor and ended just out of the medals after a controversial
bump from another competitor.

After a collision close to the finish line with Hirooki Arai
of Japan, Arai was disqualified and Dunfee was bumped up to third
place and the bronze medal. However, that medal only belonged to
Dunfee for a few hours as Arai successfully appealed the decision
and his third-place finish was resinstated.

At that point, Dunfee had the right to take the case to
the Court of Arbitration for Sport to decide if Arai
should be disqualified.

He will not.

In a statement, Dunfee explained that while
he may have won the appeal, he wouldn't have been able to accept
the bronze medal with a clear conscious, citing regular contact
of such nature in their sport.

"Following my return to the village and my viewing of the
incident I made the decision not to appeal, as I believe the
right decision stood," Dunfee wrote.

Dunfee went on to explain that the contact did put him off
mentally, that he lost his focus, and his legs "went to
jello."

He continued:

"Contact is part of our event, whether written or unwritten and
is quite common, and I don’t believe that this was malicious or
done with intent. Even if an appeal to CAS were successful
I would not have been able to receive that medal with a clear
conscience and it isn’t something I would have been proud of.

"I will sleep soundly tonight, and for the rest of my life,
knowing I made the right decision. I will never allow myself to
be defined by the accolades I receive, rather the integrity I
carry through life."

The big moment came just one kilometer from the finish line.
Dunfee was in third place as Arai approached from behind and on
the left side of Dunfee.

As Arai started to pass Dunfee, the two race walkers got tangled
up. It is difficult to see exactly where the contact was, but it
was clear that Dunfee (in the white cap) was more impacted by the
bump as his hands flew up and he seemed to momentarily lose his
balance.

CBC

Dunfee was clearly affected by the moment and fell behind Arai
who would cross the finish line 14 seconds ahead of Dunfee.